February 15, 2012

How to Make a Scratch-Off Gift Card

Before I even started thinking about what to get Whit for Valentine's Day, I saw this idea in Better Homes and Gardens. I ended up not attempting it until the night before Valentine's Day at like 10:30, but it was so simple - it only took like ten minutes (not including shopping for materials and waiting for paint to dry.) Who knew it was so easy to create your own scratch-off card??

I used this card as a way to give Whit a gift for Valentine's Day. I came up with four things that Whit would really like (dinner/drinks at BDubs, a massage, lunch-dinner at Bojangles, and watching the Lord of the Rings with him without falling asleep). After he opened his card he had to scratch off a heart to see which gift/prize he won! (Since the one he got first ended up being free, I let him choose one more. :)) He absolutely LOVED it! I didn't tell him what the options were before he scratched them off, and he loved the surprise of not knowing what he was going to get. (He eventually scratched all 4 off to see what they were.) I will definitely make this again for a birthday, date, or some other fun surprise! Another twist would be to let your hubby scratch one off each week and extend the date fun.


The materials you need are:
Contact paper (warning: this stuff costs like $10 for a roll, so make sure you bring a 40% off Michael's coupon if you don't already have some!)
A small flat paintbrush (I used the next-to-smallest size, and it was perfect!)
Metallic acrylic paint (Most of the paint in the paint section is acrylic, so don't be confused about finding metallic acrylic. Metallic is just the type of color - you can choose from silver, gold, etc. I used silver.)
Dishwashing liquid (you only need a squirt)

To make:
Print off a card with your gift/surprise options. Use the BH&G template, or make up your own.

Trace hearts or other shapes onto the paper side of contact paper. (Separate the hearts so you have room to cut them out later.)

Mix 1 part dishwashing liquid with 2 parts paint for the scratch-off solution. It does not require much!! I used two squirts of dishwashing liquid and it was way more than enough.


Paint the solution onto the clear side of the contact paper within the lines of your heart tracing. Let sit for about 30-45 minutes, and then paint another coat. (It might be hard to tell, but if your paint is a little streaky/not evenly covered, paint another coat. I painted two coats and it was fine, but if you looked closely you could read the words underneath.)
When it's dry, peel off the heart and place it on your card printout. 

Give as a fun gift! Include a coin to scratch off with.


For detailed instructions and the template, go to the BH&G website.

4 comments:

  1. such a cute idea! i love it! :)

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  2. This is too cute! I will have to keep this in mind :)

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  3. I saw this idea and thought it was so cute! I'm glad to know that you tried it and it works well. I'll have to keep it in mind.

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  4. This is one of the best creative present ideas I have seen! I'm going to find an occasion to make something similar soon :)

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